Roth family thanks community, police

The family of Joyce Roth, the 87-year-old woman fatally stabbed in a Hershey area home, has released a statement thanking the community for its support and Derry Township police for their thorough investigation.

Roth, of Allentown, was
visiting Derry Township for the high school graduation of her
great-grandchild and was staying at the home of her son and
daughter-in-law when she was stabbed in the chest while sleeping in a
guest bedroom June 10.

Dajuan Anthony Porter,
29, of Harrisburg was arrested in the case Tuesday.

The following is the entire statement from Barry and Patricia Roth:

“We don't know where to even begin with all the “thank-yous”. The whole family has been overwhelmed by the amount of support we have received from friends, associates, and the community to the extent of bringing tears of joy to our eyes for a welcome change.

We wish to give a big thank you to the Derry Township Police. We have been very impressed with their sensitivity, thoroughness, the amount of dedicated time and resources of all the agencies involved, and the speedy progress they have made.

We thank the press, that for the most part, was unexpectedly very respectful and considerate of our situation.

We wish to give a special thanks to WFMZ-TV 69 News of Allentown for the beautiful piece they did on Mom.

We apologize to everyone for being tight-lipped, vague, and secretive. Besides the obvious fact that it is very difficult for us to talk about “it” as we spend every minute of the day evading the reliving of the horrendous images from that night, the police have strongly advised us to remain silent. We are going by the assumption that if authorities haven't released the info, they don't want it released and we absolutely do not want to do anything that might jeopardize the process.

My wife and I have frequently reflected over the years how good life has been to us and how blessed we've been. We've resolved early on that we are not going to allow one evil moment, one evil person, destroy the rest of our lives. We refuse to let evil win. As difficult as it is, we are striving to get back to some semblance of “normal” as quickly as we can handle it.